Pods
Pods split players by rating into one group per court, each playing its own round robin. How pods form, how long they run, and how they compare to rounds.
With Pods, players are split by rating into one group per court: 4 players, or 5 when there are more players than 4 per court. Each pod plays a short round robin on its own court, then it is done. A pod never waits for another court.
Outside PickleFriend this format is called a rotating-partner ladder league, an individual round-robin or shootout ladder, a box ladder, or Up & Down the River. A round there is a court's whole round robin, and players move between rounds: in Pods, start Pods again once every pod is done, and the courts re-form from the ratings that recorded scores adjust. Recording scores is part of Pro and up; on Lite the pods are formed from the ratings you type.
To run the same boxes week after week, each box meeting on its own night, see Box League.
- A pod of 4 plays 3 games. Everyone plays every game, with each of the other three as a partner once. It can also play them twice, for 6 games (see Playing the 3 games twice).
- A pod of 5 plays 5 games. Each player plays 4 and sits out 1, and everyone partners everyone once.
Pods are for changing partners only. They are not offered while Mixed Doubles is on, and linked partners are ignored.
How pods are formed
The roster is sorted by rating and cut into pods, Pod 1 the highest. The Start dialog lists them under Proposed pods, at the bottom, before you start:
- Which court each pod gets. This follows the Mixer's Sort Courts by Rating setting. With it on and numbered Highest-rated = Court 1, Pod 1 plays on Court 1, then down the line; with Highest-rated = highest court #, Pod 1 plays on the highest court number. With it off (the default), or on Keep original court numbers, the pods are dealt to the courts at random. The Start dialog shows it as Which court each pod gets, and changing it there changes the Mixer setting too. The courts the preview shows are the courts the night gets.
- Where the pods of 5 go. Best fit (recommended) puts them where the ratings are most crowded, so each pod stays as close in level as possible. You can also choose the top or the bottom of the ladder, or random.
- Swap players before you start. Drag a player onto a player in another pod to swap them, or drag one from a pod of 5 onto a pod of 4. (Or tap one player, then the other.) Each change asks first, so a slip of the finger changes nothing until you tap Swap or Move. Undo all my changes puts every pod back the way it was first shown. What you see is what starts.
- Too many players? Pods hold at most 5, so a roster with more than 5 players per court can't start. Add a court or sit some players out. A roster that would leave players with no pod (6, 7 or 11 players) can't start either. The Start dialog says so, with the numbers: tap + to add a court and check again.
- A player with no rating is placed at your group's default rating (1500 unless you changed it), and the preview marks them no rating, with a note above the pods. A pod lasts all night, so if you know their level, set it before Start: on the mixer roster, tap ⋮ → Rating…, then Update to your group; or edit the player on your Players page. Set rating… during the night saves the number for next time but does not move anyone.
The order of each pod's games is drawn when you press Start and does not change.
Best fit, measured: in 200 simulated clubs of 37 players on 8 courts, the widest pod spanned 0.47 rating points with Best fit, and about 0.51 with the pods of 5 at the top or the bottom.
Settle the ratings before your first pod night
Pods are cut from the ratings once, when you press Start, and nobody changes court until their pod is done. A small misordering costs little, because a pod's four or five players are close in level either way. What hurts is an outlier: a strong player with no rating yet, or a rating from months ago, lands a pod or two away from where they belong, and every game in that pod is lopsided for the rest of the night. Pods re-form from the updated ratings only when you start Pods again, so it pays to get the numbers right before the first pod night, not during it.
- At the start of a season, or when a group is new to Pods: one or two placement nights. Run your usual mixer rounds with short timed games of 8–12 minutes, and record the scores. If your players already have ratings typed in, any mix works; if not, use the Default preset, the normal mix. Set Time (min) in Game Rules so each game is weighted as a timed game. Short games mean more of them, and a new player's first eight recorded games move their rating fastest, so one or two nights of this settle a roster that would otherwise take weeks of long games. Recording scores is part of Pro and up, and of every account's free first month; on Lite, type the ratings instead.
- After that: seed each newcomer by hand. Once most of the roster has settled ratings, a new player does not need another placement night. Type a starting rating on their player record, on your group's scale, before their first pod night, and the rating moves from there. A player with no rating at all is placed by a default number, which is rarely where they belong.
Then switch to Pods, where every game plays to its full length.
How long a pod runs
Each pod size has its own rules, so a pod of 4 and a pod of 5 finish close together. The defaults give every player about the same number of points:
| Side-out scoring | Rally scoring | |
|---|---|---|
| Pod of 4 (3 games) | to 15 | to 21 |
| Pod of 5 (each plays 4) | to 11 | to 15 |
Playing the 3 games twice. In the Start dialog's Pods of 4 box, Play the 3 games lets a pod of 4 play 6 games instead of 3. Twice, same order plays games 1, 2, 3, then 1, 2, 3 again; Twice, second time reversed plays 1, 2, 3, then 3, 2, 1, so game 3 is played twice in a row. Every player still partners each of the other three, now twice. The estimate and the play-to suggestion count all 6 games. A pod of 5 plays its 5 games as before, so with the default targets it finishes well before a pod of 4 playing twice; a shorter target for the pods of 4 evens that out. The choice is remembered for the group's next Pods night.
For Pods, the dialog's minutes read Aim to finish all games within, in a Time box with Pace and Break between games. No new game starts after that time. A pod running a little late still plays its last game and finishes a little late; only a pod a whole game behind skips its last game. Under the Time box, the dialog estimates how long each pod takes from all three, games and breaks together ("about 1 hr 16 min in all"). Under each estimate, one line names the longest games that let the whole pod finish within your time: side-out to 15, say, or rally to 21. Tap the underlined number to use it. The line offers the usual lengths only, games to 8, 9, 11, 15 or 21. You can type any length from 5 to 25 with side-out scoring and 5 to 50 with rally scoring (a rally point is about half as long, so rally to 50 takes about as long as side-out to 25). The line goes by a typical game, so a pod with long games can run a few minutes over; it says "comfortably" when there is time to spare. If the games you set run over, the line says so and names shorter ones. If nothing finishes in time, it names the games that come closest and how long they take. If even games to 8 run over, allow more time. The estimate for a normal pace with 5-minute breaks between games:
| Pod | Each game, typical (long) | The whole pod, typical (long) |
|---|---|---|
| Pod of 4, side-out to 15 | 22 min (28) | 76 min (94) |
| Pod of 5, side-out to 11 | 16 min (21) | 98 min (124) |
| Pod of 4, rally to 21 | 57 min | |
| Pod of 5, rally to 15 | 75 min |
The estimate counts rallies with an exact model of side-out and rally scoring. Pace assumes about 25 seconds a rally (Normal); choose Relaxed (30 s) or Fast (20 s) to match your group. Break between games is the pause the estimate adds between a pod's games. Pod games have no time limit.
Pods compared with rounds
A pod night gives players the same amount of play as rounds where every game plays to 11, or more, with no waiting for another court, and every game is against your own level. What it costs is variety.
32 players on 8 courts (8 pods of 4)
| Rounds (all games to 11) | Pods, default (to 15) | Pods, games to 21 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Games per player | 4.2 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| Minutes of play per player | 66 | 67 | 96 |
| Different people you play with or against | 10.8 | 3 | 3 |
| Average / longest wait between games | 7.4 / 17 min | none | none |
| Courts standing empty before the 90-minute mark | 28% | 22% | 3% |
| Pods that finish all their games | 100% | 96% | |
| The last game ends at about | 101 min | 88 min | 121 min |
40 players on 8 courts (8 pods of 5)
| Rounds (all games to 11) | Pods, default (to 11) | Pods, games to 9 | Pods, games to 15 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Games per player | 3.3 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 3.5 |
| Minutes of play per player | 53 | 64 | 51 | 78 |
| Different people you play with or against | 8.8 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Average / longest wait between games | 11.7 / 39 min | 3.4 / 27 min | 2.8 / 22 min | 4.3 / 36 min |
| Pods that finish all their games | 99% | 100% | 41% | |
| The last game ends at about | 101 min | 99 min | 81 min | 115 min |
What this means:
- With 4 per court, the default games to 15 are also what the dialog suggests for 90 minutes. Pods are done at about 88 minutes, with about the same play as rounds, no waiting, and every pod finishing. The cost is a few empty courts at the end. Games to 21 fill the night, with about 45% more play than rounds, but the last game ends at about 2 hours and one pod in 25 skips its last game. The dialog warns you before you start.
- With 5 per court, the default games to 11 beat rounds on every count except variety: more games, more play, shorter waits. They run about 10 minutes past 90, and the dialog says so. For 90 minutes it suggests games to 9: pods are done at about 81 minutes, with about the same play as rounds and much shorter waits.
- Don't stretch a pod of 5 past its time. At games to 15, most pods could not start their last game before the cutoff. The dialog warns you before you start.
During the night
- Players can't check themselves out of a pod. A player's own sit-out or leave waits for you, because it changes the pod's games. To take someone out, tap ⋮ on their roster row and choose Remove from pod (if they are on court, you also choose Finished or Skip for that game). A pod of 5 goes down to 4 and re-draws its remaining games. If you would rather let players leave on their own, turn on Players can check themselves out before you start.
- A player asked to leave or sit out: their roster row says so. Tap ⋮ and choose Keep in pod to clear the request, or Remove from pod to let them go.
- A pod of 4 left with 3 stops. That court's card shows "Court 3 needs a player" and who could fill in: late arrivals first, then a sitting player from the nearest pod of 5.
- Late arrivals wait at the top of the roster, under Waiting for a pod. They never join a pod that has started on their own: tap ⋮ and choose Add to a pod to put them in a pod with room. Four late arrivals and a free court form a new pod.
- Move a player between pods: tap ⋮ on a sitting player's roster row and choose Move to another pod. It appears only when the move is possible: they're off court, their pod has 5, and another pod has room.
- End a pod early from ⋮ on the pod's heading in the roster or ⋯ on its court's card (End pod…), or all pods with End all pods… under the ⋯ menu (for rain). Scores already entered stay saved, so enter any you still have first. To take a game back out, delete it from the Games list on your dashboard.
- The night ends by itself when every pod is done.
- No call sound on a Pods night. Your phone and the TV stay quiet when a game starts. Each pod already knows its next game is coming, and one sound for every game in every pod tells nobody whose it is. The Call sound switch leaves the ⋯ menu for the night; your saved choice still applies on other nights. Players' phones still buzz: all four for their pod's first game, and in a pod of 5, the player coming back from sitting out for their next game.
Pod results
When a pod finishes, its results card shows each player's wins, losses, points and rating change (the rating change only if your group's ratings are public). The card appears on your panel, on the TV, on each player's phone, and on your group's public Games tab. On a Not recorded night there are no results to show, so there's no card: the TV and each player's phone just say the pod is done.
Pods with mixed games
Pods don't have to take the whole night. In the Start dialog, Pods on some courts, mixed games on the rest runs pods on the courts you pick, for the players you pick, and your usual mixed games on the other courts for everyone else. Each pod plays its round robin as described above; the mixed games run as Standard Rounds, Court Waves or Round Ahead with your mixer settings. Pick the players by hand, or take the highest or lowest rated four per pods court.
When a pod finishes, its players and its court join the mixed games right away (on Standard Rounds, at the next mix), while the other pods play on. They join like anyone arriving: having just played, they may sit out the next game, as anyone coming off court might, and their pod games don't hold them back after that. If you'd rather a pod's players be done for the night, choose When a pod finishes… under the ⋯ menu during the night. You can also start pods partway through a mixed night, or move players between the pods and the mixed games as the evening goes. See Pods and mixed games on the same night.
How we measured the comparison: 200 simulated nights, 90 minutes of play, 1 minute between games, game lengths from the same rally model. Rounds means every game plays to 11 (about 15 minutes) and the next round starts only when the last court has finished. Real pace varies, so check the dialog's estimate against your own group.